Nov.14th Grifiths.docx

• Discretion-the ability of a police officer to choose among several possible courses of
action in carrying out a mandated task
• Patrol officers bring to their work a set of cognitive lenses through which they make
determinations about the people and events they encounter
• Typifications- constructs based on a patrol officer’s experience that denote what is
typical about people and events routinely encountered
• Recipes for action- the actions typically taken by patrol officers in various kinds of
encounter situation
• e.g A visual cue such as a poorly dressed individual in an upscale neighbourhood
• The risk is that racial or economic profiling may result
Factors Influencing Patrol Officers’ Decision making
The setting
• Different Environment e.g. Toronto has rich districts and poor districts
• Police officers posted to remote areas face isolation and cultural and language barriers.
• Policing in rural and remote communities is “high visibility-high consequence”
The Priorities of the Police Service
• Patrol officers are influenced by the priorities of the department, the philosophy and
management style of the chief and senior police administrators, and resources available
• The management style of the police department’s leaders will affect the development
and implementation of policies and procedures within the department, how the
competing demands on the agency are prioritized, and the extent to which patrol officers
are encouraged to exercise discretion and seek solutions to problems they encounter
The Policing Style of Officers
• Research studies have shown that the age,gender, length of service, ethnicity, and level
of education of patrol officers can influence the decisions they make in any given
situation
• E.g female patrol officers are less likely than male officers to provoke violence in
encounter situations and make fewer arrests than their male counterparts; are less likely
to be involved in serious misconduct, and more effective in interactions with the general
public Complanant Preference and Suspect Charecteristics
• The wishes of the complainant have a significant impact on the decision making of police
officers
• Charecteristics of the suspect may also influence police decision making
• Suspects who non-white, male, and of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be
checked by patrol ofiicres through Canadian Police Information Centre: they are also
more likely to be searched by officers
• Suspects who are uncooperative or disrespectful are more likely to be charged or
arrested than those who behave in a deferential and civil manner
Seriousness of the Alleged Offence
• Those suspects alleged to have committed serious crimes are more likely to be arrested
than those alleged t have committed minor offences
• As the